LASA 2 Evaluating a Supply Chain
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GammonsF_M3_A2LASA1ConductinganOrganizationalAssessmentMGT416.docxRunning head: CONDUCTING AN ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT 1
CONDUCTING AN ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT 7
Conducting an Organizational Assessment
Frances Gammons
Argosy University
Conducting an Organizational Assessment
Introduction
The internal and external business environment are essential to any organization as the success of the business heavily depends on them. The reason is that these are the factors that have a direct impact on the company and hence can either support or paralyze the operations of the company. The internal environment of a company is made up of different aspects which include; company policies, organizational structure, culture, employees, and the management in place. On the other hand, the external environment are factors outside the company but has a direct impact for instance; the government, society, customers, suppliers, competitors, and technology. The Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) is an American publicly traded company in the NSE and was established in 1971. The company deals in the designing and production of home products primarily for kitchen, dining, bathroom, and bedroom. The company has well established retail outlets in other countries like; Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Despite the success that the company has managed to achieve in the course of its existence, it is the ultimate goal of the company to become more competitive in the market and achieve all the set long-term goals. For this desire to be a reality, it is crucial to review the internal and external environment of the company to determine areas that require improvement. Thus, the essay shall focus on conducting an exclusive assessment of both internal and external environment of the company and provide the management with ample insights on steps that they can take to make the company competitive.
Company’s business strategy and global competitiveness plan
Since the company was established, it developed a business strategy which is to employ and make use of quality human resources skills to make sure that the company designs and manufactures unique products. This is also a strategy that is used as a global competitive plan for the company because the company believes in proper positioning in the global market as the best and exceptional way of becoming competitive globally (Likosky, 2014). The reason is that the home market products is a market that allows indication and creativity to take place and thus clients are always looking out for unique products to place in their houses. Moreover, the areas of a home that the company targets are areas that require exclusive neatness and beauty, and this is a secret that the business is aware and strives to make use promptly. A long-term global plan for the business is to establish in different countries around the world and strive to understand the diverse market needs hence designing unique products that align with different client's needs. However, for this to be possible, the company ensures that the current markets it is already operating are satisfied and contented with the products that the company is supplying before extending to other new potential markets. Lastly, the global market is highly competitive, and apart from unique products, the company makes use of other aspects of quality of the products, accessibility, and affordability of the products.
SWOT analysis
1. With over 45 years of operation, the company has been able to establish its brands in a huge area something that makes the brand easily recognized by clients. This is particularly in major metropolitan regions of countries that the company is already established. This is a major strength because the company does not market the products intensively as they are familiar to the clients
2. The BBBY company has a robust leadership team and competent workforce. This is a major strength for the company because, with strong leadership, the company has been able to make critical and quality decisions. The skilled employees support the company with creative ideas and unique products that are competitive in the market.
3. The BBBY company has a robust and reliable brand image that has enabled the company to realize consistent profitability. As an outcome, the company has been able to record constant growth even during the deep economic recession for example between 2007 and 2009.
4. The company is a shareholder friendly, and this is a significant strength because the company is trading publicly in the NSE. The reason is that a majority of investors perceives the company as a good investment with good returns on investment.
Weaknesses
1. The use of technology, for example, soft comp has been on the rise, and many companies in the same industry have embraced such technologies. Sadly, the company has not been able to keep up with new trends and has led to reduced levels of company expansion
2. The company has not been able to offer the market with affordable products, and despite the products being known around, they are considered as products for the wealthy hence making the middle class and low-class people to avoid the products entirely.
3. The company has not targeted home products for the entire home but specific areas of the home. This makes the clients deal with other competing brands that have all home products, and it makes clients that prefer shopping under one-roof to prefer competitors over BBBY.
Opportunities
1. Due to advancement in the building and construction sector, quality home products have raised their demand, and this grants the company the opportunity to have a higher potential target market.
2. E-commerce is another marketing and distribution strategy that has been developed and opens an effective opportunity for the company to target a wider market. the reason is that through online means, it is possible for clients located away from company stores to place their order and have the products delivered.
Threats
· Competition in the industry especially international brands like Amazon is stiff in the market, and this threatens to gradually takeover BBBY's market share.
· Different countries have differing trade rules that sometimes keep on changing and this poses a major threat to the company because in the case the government regulations established and implemented are not favorable to the business, they would paralyze operations.
External environment evaluation via an external scenario evaluation
Just like any other organization, BBBY has an external environment which in a big way determines the operations of the company. The company's external environment is made up of; competitors, customers, environment, the government, and technology. The forces determine a majority of operations that the company conducts internally from the external environment (Likosky, 2014). The reason is that failure to comply and understand the external environment makes the company design and supply the market with products that are irrelevant and even going against the law hence tarnishing brand image due to court cases. It is for this purpose that the company strives to strike a balance and understand the external environment before making internal moves as this is what has kept the company operational for long.
According to Bowman, & Newman, (2017); the environment in which a business has been established on determines the best area of specialization for the business. The reason is that the environment determines the products that the targeted market need and those products that are irrelevant to the clients. When the company was being established in 1971, the area that the business was being established was not fully developed. It was the time when the region was starting to realize development and infrastructure was being put in place in efforts to make the region habitable. Because of the quality leadership team that the company has had ever since its establishment, the company took part in different corporate affairs. For instance, the company took an active part in the construction of roads and local tertiary learning institutions. In the process, the company management team got to interact with the local society, and they learn of the specific home products that had a higher demand in the market, and this led to the company dealing with the current products that it does.
Again, dealing directly with clients when taking part in corporate affairs made it possible for the company to learn and understand the people’s culture and believes. This played an important role in the quality of design and marketing strategies that the company uses to create the necessary brand awareness (Bowman, & Newman, 2017). The high brand awareness levels that the company currently enjoys in the external environment is said to have originated from taking time and being part of the environment and learning more about the clients as well as various government regulations in place. Over the years, the company has strived to understand competition and technology and it is for this reason that the company has been able to remain afloat in the market and design products that are preferred by a big margin of clients.
The company has a hierarchical type of organizational structure which is used to channel communication. This means that the employees have to observe protocol to receive orders and also send any information to the superiors. At the company, the top management team which is comprised of chairman of the board, the board members, and the CEO plays an important role in making company decisions. It is also the team in charge of running the company making sure that all set organizational goals is achieved and that the employees have the right resources to execute their tasks.
Organizational business process
At the BBBY, the production of home goods that the company specializes in goes through a specific and systematic process. The process is divided into three sections and in each section; some specific individuals take care of tasks and products development until they proceed to the next level. The levels are as follows; managing, supporting, and operational (McCarthy, 2014). The managing level is the first process, and it entails the act of monitoring and controlling all the systems and product production procedures. In this stage, the company management team takes care of making sure that strategic planning, right infrastructure, and ample production budgeting is in place that facilitates other business processes. All the roles that the management level plays do not have an impact directly on the client, but they help in creating a positive internal environment that empowers the employees to work effectively and achieve the desired goals.
The supporting level of business process is the second step that is comprised of all the processes and functions within an organization. It is the step that requires different company departments to play their roles effectively to promote quality production and distribution of products. For instance, the HRM is responsible for making sure that the company has quality employees, employees are trained and motivated, compensation is done on time and that conflicts are addressed instantly. The accounting department is responsible for making sure that finances are made available that would facilitate production of goods till they get to the consumer. The manufacturing department is responsible for making sure ample and unique designs are established in advance in readiness for production. Lastly, the marketing department is responsible for making sure that quality and effective marketing strategies are developed that will help in creating the right brand awareness and image in the market.
The operational level is the primary business process at the company. It is the process that deals with core business and the chain value of the business. In this step, the employees’ takes up the designs developed and manufactured the products using available skills and resources. When the products are ready, they are delivered to clients hence making the business process complete (McCarthy, 2014). This step is the most sensitive because it is the process that directly deals with the clients and leads to the generation of revenues for the business. Of importance to note is that the quality of operation from the other two levels of the business process determines the outcome of the third phase.
Ethical issues that may impact the traditional management functions of the company and recommend preventative measures
The company since its formation has established a positive relationship with the external environment hence making sure that a right brand image is developed and maintained. One of the ethical issues that may negatively impact this traditional management function of the company is where the company employees may fail to treat clients with respect and dignity and also ignore the government rules in place guiding manufacturing companies (Bowman, & Newman, 2017). This is an ethical issue because treating clients with respect would make the clients start perceiving the company from a negative point of view something that would affect sales and profits that have been consistent and steadfast as a result of traditional management functions. It is hence recommendable that the company management through the HRM department should keep on training employees about the company traditions so that even the upcoming employees can act as per the culture of the company.
It is also a traditional culture of the company to design and manufacture quality products, and it is for this reason that over the years, the company has attracted customer trust and loyalty. A possible ethical issue that may impact this tradition is a situation where employees ordering raw materials would order substandard products hence lowering the quality of the product. The reason is that once the clients would detect that the quality of products has been diminished, they would start moving away and start embracing competition thus affecting company sales. To avoid this, it is crucial for the management to provide raw material suppliers with the right quality of products to supply the company. Hence, the administration to ensure that the employees are trained on proper manufacturing procedures that should be followed during production process to achieve the desired result product.
References
Bowman, R., & Newman, A. (2017). A model to improve preparedness and strategically enhance resiliency at a community level: The Garden State approach. Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 10(2), 124-131.
Likosky, D. S. (2014). Developing and executing quality improvement projects (concept, methods, and evaluation). The Journal of Extra-Corporeal Technology, 46(1), 38-44.
McCarthy, A. A. (2014). Conducting facilities assessments. Determining where capital dollars should be invested. Health Facilities Management, 27(8), 30-34.
board chairman
Board of directors
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Manufacturing manager
HRM
Marketing manager
Accounting officer
Employees
Employees
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